Trump's tweet claiming he only uses government phones was sent from an iPhone

President Donald Trump listens to his mobile phone during a lunch stop in South Carolina.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke

President Donald Trump routinely uses unsecured iPhones to speak with friends and associates instead of a secure White House line, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

In a tweet, Trump said the report was "soooo wrong!" and insisted, "I only use Government Phones."

The tweet was sent from an iPhone, but it's not clear if Trump sent the tweet himself or if it was sent by one of his aides.

The president is online again.

President Donald Trump took to Twitter to respond to a recent New York Times article that reported he routinely uses his unsecured iPhones to speak with friends and associates instead of using a secure White House phone line.

"I only use Government Phones, and have only one seldom used government cell phone," Trump said in a tweet sent from his account. He added, "Story is soooo wrong!"

While this is hardly the first time Trump has been critical of The New York Times' reporting about him, eagle-eyed Twitter users quickly noticed something about the tweet itself: It was sent from an iPhone.

Twitter

The Twitter app itself doesn't reveal the platform a tweet was sent on, but the social network's TweetDeck app does, which is how many discovered the tweet was sent from an iPhone.

But it's not airtight proof the president himself sent the tweet from an iPhone he was using — he could have, but his aides also have access to his Twitter account and often post for him.

The Times reported that Trump's use of his iPhones to speak with friends allows Chinese and Russian spies to listen in on his calls to get an idea of what types of arguments are successful with the president and who he trusts. The ability to compromise Trump's calls isn't a flaw of the iPhones themselves, but rather a security issue stemming from cellular networks. The Times also stated that Trump has two iPhones: one for Twitter and other basic web apps, and one for making phone calls.